Revolving combustion chamber



May 1, 1951 R. H. GODDARD 2,551,111

REVOLVING COMBUSTION CHAMBER Filed June 28, 1946 l 510 5b 4 35 lz v '6,0l. d i 75- Patented May 1, 1951 STATES PATENT OFFICE REVOLVINGCOMBUSTIONv CHAMBER Application June 28, 1946, Serial No. 680,230 (c1.fsu- 41) y 4 Claims. Y 1

This invention relates; to; aircraft propulsion mechanism in. which apropeller is rotated by a plurality of small combustion. chambers ofrocket type which are mounted.v to revolve in; a. circular path aboutthe. axis of the. propeller. and to supply power to rotate thepropeller., i

It is: the general object of the invention. to provide; an. improvedconstruction. in such propulsion mechanism, in which the revolvingcombus` tion. chambers will present a minimum. air resistance and will.most effectively apply power to turn the propel-ler.

To the attainment of this generali object, a construction` is providedin which the combustion. chambers are self-adjusting to air resistanceand automatically' orient themselves to positions of minimum resistance.Means is also provided to prevent such automatic adjustment during the.starting up` of the apparatus, and also for disconnecting the propellerfrom the. revolving chambers so that the chambers may be started inoperation and may b e brought up to the desired speed of revolutionwithminimum resistance.

The invention further relates toy arrangements and combinations of partswhich will. be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shownv in the drawing, i-nwhichFig; lis a side elevation of the improved construction;

Fig. 2` is anenlarged sectional side elevation of one combustionchamber; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 in- Fig.2. Y Y

Referring to the drawing, a pair of combustion chambersA C are shownmounted on a shaft' S wl'iichy isj rotatable in suitable bearings inv anaircraftand which is aligned with a shaft Si' which is similarly mountedand which is provided with propeller blades P. A clutch Lv is providedby whichv the propeller shaft S may beA connected or disconnected withrespect to the shaft S by shifting a. handle lever H;

`of a tube I 0, which tube is rotatably supported by a thrust bearing |2at the outer end ofy a cross shaft |.4 secured to and rotatable withltheshaft 'I'he lower end of each tube IU is open, and the tube rotatesfreely about a sleeve IB, projecting outward from a casing I'l mountedon and rotatable. with the shaft S. Liquid fuel for the combustionchamber may be fed rto the space 20 within the casing through a feedpipe 2| `connected to a hollow ring 22 mounted on the casing butnon-rotatable therewith.

A second tubey 25 is mounted in spaced relationV outside of the tube |6,and the open lower end of the tube 25` surrounds a sleeve 2t,l sup.-ported on a casing. 21- concentric with and spaced from the.` casing I lpreviously described. A liquid oxidizer isv fed to thel annular space28. between the: casings and 2.1 through a feed pipe 39 and` a. hollowring 3| mounted on but non-rotatable with the casing 211. i

Feed pipes3'5 and 36 connect the tubes l0 and 25. with the. combustionchamber C, and spacing partitions 46: and 4| are provided within thetubes |0. and 25 and just above the points at which the feed pipes.' 35Vand. 36 enter the tubes. The. liquid combustion agents are fed throughthe tubes Ill and 25; by centrifugal force.

Provision. is thus made for continuous feed of liquid fuel and a liquidoxidizer to the combustion chambery C, while at the same time thechamber Ci is free to rotate about the axis of the. cross shaftJ |f4`and is also. free to revolve bodily about the axis of the shaft S. i

In order to prevent angular movement of the combustion` chambers aboutthe axis of the shaft |42 while they combustion chambers are beingplaced in operation, a magnetic or solenoid type brake 44 may bevprovided.

Special provision is made for cooling the combustion chambers andcomprises a jacket casing surrounding the combustion chamber C' and heldin spaced relation thereto by axially extending spaced partitions 5|.Both ends of the jacket space betweenthe casing 50 and-the chamberlC areopen, and the rush of air through this jacket space when the aircraft isin flight effectively cools the combustion chamber.

If additional cooling effect is desired, a funnel is mounted concentricwith the shaft S and is spaced outwardly from the sleeve 2T. A sleeve 6|projects radially from the funnel 66 and is aligned with al tube 62concentric with the tube 25 previously described and rotatabletherewith.

The tube 62 communicates with a supplementary jacket casing 64, spacedfrom the jacket casing 50 and having its rear end portion reentrant, asclearly/shown in Fig. 2. Air entering the funnel 60 travels outwardthrough the sleeve 6| and tube 62 to the auxiliary jacket space, whereits direction of movement is reversed and it enters the open front endof-the main jacket space between the jacket casing 5G and the combustionchamber C. The flow of air through this auxiliary jacket space is muchincreased by centrifugal force in the tubes 62 as high speedsvofrotation are attained.

In order to reduce the air resistance of the tubes which support thecombustion chambers, a streamlined casing (Fig. 3) is provided outsideof each sleeve 6| and tube 62. This casing is mounted on the outerjacket casing 64 and turns with the combustion chamber about the axis ofthe shaft I4.

Vanes are mounted on the combustion chambers outside of the jacketcasings and act to orient the chamberv C with respect to the resultantair resistance due to movement of the aircraft through the atmosphereand to revolution of the combustion chambers about the axis of the shaftS.

In starting this propulsion mechanism in operation, the chambers areheld from movement about the axis of the cross shaft I4 by the magneticor solenoid device 44 and the clutch L is disengaged so that thechambers may revolve freely about the axis of the shaft S until fulloperation of the chambers is attained. The brake is then released andthe clutch L is engaged, whereupon the propeller blades are positivelyrotated and the combustion chambers are correctly and automaticallyoriented to minimize air resistance.

It will be noted that the propellers are quite independent of thecombustion chambers, so that no modification of the propellers isnecessary, and

the chambers, and any usual ignition means may also be provided.

Having thus described the invention and the advantages thereof, it willbe understood that the invention is not to be limited to the detailsherein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what isclaimed is:

1. In an aircraft propulsion mechanism, a propeller shaft, combustionchambers mounted to revolve bodily in a circular path and effective tosupply power to thus revolve said chambers and also said propellershaft, means to feed liquid combustion agents to said chambers,means tosupport said chambers for free rotation about radial axes,self-orienting means on said chambers eiective to orient said chamberson said axes in response to air resistance, jacket means for aircoolingthe combustion chambers and which 'jacket means are freely open at boththe forward and rearward ends; and auxiliary air-cooling means, theeffect of which is augmented by centrifugal force.

2. In an aircraft propulsion mechanism, a propeller shaft, combustionchambers mounted to revolve bodily in a circular path and effective tosupply power to thus revolve said chambers and also said propellershaft, means to feed liquid combustion agents to said chambers, means tosupport said chambers for free rotation about radial axes,self-orienting means onsaid chamber effective to orient said chambers onsaid axes in response to air resistance, braking means effective toselectively prevent free orientation of said combustion chambers duringstarting operations, and electrical means to render said braking meansoperative and inoperative.

3. In an aircraft propulsion mechanism, a :ro-

vtatable shaft, a cross shaft mounted thereon,

combustion chambers rotatably mounted on said cross shaft, anair-cooling jacket for each chamber, a funnel concentric with saidrotatable shaft and open at its forward end, and radial tubes connectingsaid funnel to said jackets, each chamber having an air-passage betweensaid aircooling 'j acket and said chamber andopen at both ends, and airfrom said outer air-cooling jackets being discharged into said innerair-passages near the entrance end thereof.

` 4.. In an aircraft propulsion mechanism, a rotatable shaft, a crossshaft mounted thereon, combustion chambers rotatablymounted on saidcrossshaft an air-cooling jacket yfor each chamber, a funnel concentric'with said rotatable shaft and open at its forward end, and radial tubesconnecting said funnel to said jackets, Yeach chamber having anair-passage between said aircooling jacket and said chamber and open atboth ends, and air from said outer air-cooling jackets being dischargedinto each inner air-passage near the entrance end thereof, and meansbeing provided to redirect said air rearward as' so discharged.

ESTHER C. GODDARD, Executrz' of thev Last -Will and Testament of RobertH. Goddard, Deceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,074,098 Adams Mar. 16, 19372,124,462 Cummings July 19, 1938 2,142,601 Bleecker Jan. 3, 19392,220,066 Cornell Nov. 5, 1940 2,396,130 Sbrilli Mar. 5, 1946 2,397,357Kundig Mar. 26, 1946 2,409,551 Donnellan Oct'. 15, 1946 2,423,183Forsyth July 1, 1947 2,432,359 Streid Dec. 9, 1947 2,433,107 ForsythDec. 23, 1947 `2,446,266 Cummings Aug. 3, 1948 2,474,685 McCollum June28, 1949 2,485,502 McCollum Oct. 18, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 227,151 Great Britain Jan. 12, 1925 366,450 Great Britain July 30,1930 648,107

France Dec. 5, 1928

